Derkas stepped forward and sliced the head of the dog with his falchion. Half of its neck disconnected from its body as it crumpled to the ground.
Devarius turned away from the sight as he prepared for the warriors who stepped through the bush. The other dog tried again to jump toward him, but a blast of blue air streaked past him to crash into the dog. Its body was encased in ice, and Devarius ducked as the dog flew over him. When it struck the ground, it shattered into a thousand pieces. Devarius stood as one of the men’s swords swung at his head. His weapon blocked the blow in time. Ringing metal echoed all around him. Derkas stepped to his side as he blocked another incoming strike toward Devarius.
Devarius spun around to secure a better grounding as two of the men rushed toward him. He moved into Catch the Butterfly form as he slashed his weapon in overhead strikes to the left and right to cross blades with each opponent. They came at him fast, but he was just as quick. Even though his deep sword training had been odd at first, he was grateful for it. He imagined the incoming blows as butterflies as he went from one to the other. Devarius wouldn’t be able to continue in the form for long. He grew tired as the two warriors pressed on him harder. Stepping back, he changed his form to Swat the Bee, which went from elegant sword mastery to chaotic, rapid offensive strikes. His transition between the forms was flawless, and took his two opponents completely off guard. He used the lower portion of his sword to create vibration against his opponents. His heel slammed down on one of the warrior’s feet, causing the man to flinch. When he did, Devarius spun around to slash the weapon against the warrior’s throat. He crumpled to the ground.
Devarius stepped back to focus on fighting against only one opponent when another one stepped toward him. He glanced to Derkas and noticed he faced only one, with the other on the ground badly injured. The opponent who joined against Devarius was the woman.
Devarius’ lip twisted in a frown. He didn’t like having to face a woman … especially if it meant he would have to hurt her. Devarius continued in the Swat the Bee form as he faced his two opponents. The man he faced was strong with his strikes, but the woman—she was elegant. Her moves weren’t quite as powerful, but her technique was superb. Devarius didn’t know if he’d ever faced such a skilled opponent. If Orrick would have ever faced him in a duel instead of only teaching him how to catch butterflies and swat bees, Devarius imagined he would have been this skilled, but Devarius had never had the chance to face him.
Devarius lost his footing and was forced to begin falling back on the defensive. He changed his fighting stance to Early Worm Escapes the Bird.
His attackers didn’t let up, and he had to be swift to dodge and block both of his opponent’s strikes. The man was a little reckless, but the woman’s blows were on the mark. His arms were cut several times from her attacks, most only grazing the surface of his leather armor, but several were met with blood.
A spell of ice flew toward them, and Devarius ducked and rolled out of the way. The ice formed on the feet of the woman, leaving Devarius only one opponent as the ice wrapped around her feet to the ground to keep her from moving.
Devarius’ face was drenched in sweat. He stepped back, continuing to block the incoming blows from the warrior. Switching his weapon to his right hand, Devarius wiped the sweat blinding his eyes. His opponent took the opportunity to fight harder, causing Devarius to lose his balance and fall to the ground. His sword fell from his hands. The warrior stood over him, his sword slashing toward the ground. Devarius rolled out of the way. His opponent’s sword slammed into the dirt inches from his face. Devarius grabbed his opponent’s sword with his bare hands to prevent him from pulling it up. It cut into his hands a little, but the edges weren’t sharp enough to dig in deeply. Devarius kicked the hilt, and the warrior’s hands. The warrior dropped his weapon, and Devarius spun around to grip its hilt, then plunged it through the man’s stomach. It tore through the thin platemail with Devarius’ incredible strength.
Devarius got to his feet, grabbed his own sword, then turned to face the remaining woman. She was gone. Ice splinters were scattered across the ground where she’d been trapped. He peered around, searching for her. Devarius found Zaviana, and he opened his mouth to call to her—to ask her where the woman disappeared to, but she wasn’t paying attention. She was trying to help Derkas finish his last opponent.
Then Devarius saw her. The woman crept up from the side behind Zaviana, her sword outstretched, ready to strike.
Devarius’ eyes bulged for an instant before he rushed forward. “Zaviana!”
Zaviana turned as the woman’s blade came toward her face. Her hands jerked upright, turning purple, and as she jumped backward, the female warrior was pushed away with air. Devarius rushed forward and knelt by Zaviana’s feet. She escaped most of the blow, but a cut showed on the left side of her face where she hadn’t escaped the full impact of the strike. Devarius cradled her head in his arms.
“Zaviana? Are you all right?” he asked.
Derkas defeated his opponent and dropped by Devarius’ side.
“Is she all right?” Derkas asked.
“She’s alive, but she’s hurt,” Devarius said.
“Devarius, watch out!” Derkas yelled.
Devarius turned around and found the warrior behind him with blade raised. He slammed his weapon through the warrior’s stomach. She collapsed to the ground.
Devarius’ jaw dropped. He hadn’t wanted to kill her. He didn’t like to battle women, but he’d had to. However, he’d hoped to spare her. It was too late now.
He glanced from the female warrior to Zaviana several times before dropping his blade and crawling back to Zaviana to cradle her head in his arms, tears streaming down his face.
14
Paedyn sat at his desk, a quill in hand and a parchment in front of him. He didn’t much like writing. It wasn’t that he wasn’t good at it, but the hand cramps were awful. He also didn’t have good handwriting, though that was probably because he didn’t try. Why would he try though? Writing was lame. Devarius usually did all the writing. Paedyn just wasn’t good at it. He was good at talking. But he knew certain regulations would have to be in writing to be accepted.
He and Devarius had hoped they wouldn’t need to set forth laws for the resistance. After all, they were fighting against a tyrannical empire to earn their freedom. The last thing they wanted to do was put laws and rules on the so called “free” people.
A knock at the door brought Paedyn out of his thoughts. He frowned as he stood to open the door.
A woman with long orange hair and tight leather armor stood at his doorway. Paedyn’s eyes lingered for a moment, taking in her full body. Bright, beautiful green eyes sparkled in the morning sunslight, though the orange sun was still just the size of a small moon. Freckles covered both of her cheeks, as well as her small, pointed nose. Her skin was pale, but soft, and her hair glittered under the suns. She was breathtaking, not to mention how tightly the leather clung to her body, though Paedyn did his best to keep his eyes from glancing below her face, with an occasional slip every other second. She placed her hands on her hips as she cleared her throat.
Paedyn smiled. “Lilianya. It’s nice of you to stop by. What can I do for you?”
“You sent for me,” she said.
“Did I?” Paedyn scratched his chin. “That does sound like something I would do.”
Lilianya scowled at him.
“Well, while you’re here, can I get you something to eat? I do have some fresh lamb roasting.” He gestured to his dining table.
Two chairs stood on each side of it with two lit candles at the table’s center and two glasses of wine already poured. He even had silverware and fancy napkins out, which was unusual for his meals.
“No. I am quite all right. What did you need of me?” she asked.
“Dinner. That’s what I need. Why don’t you have a seat with me?”
She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
“Well, yo
u can sit across from me as I brief you on your mission.”
“Mission?” she asked.
“Task, adventure, order, whatever you want to call it. I have something in mind for you,” he said.
“I bet you do,” she muttered as she stepped inside.
She walked over to the table, and Paedyn rushed over to hold her chair out for her. Lilianya rolled her eyes as Paedyn pushed the chair in for her. He then rushed to his small fire pit to grab the roasted lamb.
“What is this all about?” she asked.
Paedyn set the chunk of meat on his counter and began slicing chunks to put on two fancy plates. He wasn’t quite sure where he’d gotten the plates, but they were fancy, which was what he needed.
“Most of this island is unexplored—at least, unexplored by us humans,” Paedyn said as he put potatoes and asparagus on the plates. “And we’ve been meaning to learn more about it for a while now. In fact, if I remember correctly, it was something you were quite outspoken about when we first arrived here.”
She bit her lip as Paedyn set down the two plates. Her eyes closed as she inhaled the scent of lamb and vegetables.
“You have a good memory,” she said.
He smiled as he sat and grabbed his fork.
“Are you going to say a prayer to the creator before eating?” she asked as his fork nearly made it to his mouth.
“Oh, right.” He held out his hand, waggling his eyebrows.
Her face twisted as she accepted his hand.
“Dear Creator, don’t let this food kill us. Amen.”
Paedyn squeezed her hand, then took a bite.
She rolled her eyes at him before pulling her hand out of his and looking at her food.
“Does it not look appetizing?” he asked between bites.
“It looks delicious.”
“Then why aren’t you eating?” he asked.
“Because I’m afraid if I take a bite, you will consider this a date.”
Paedyn shrugged. “Well, how else am I supposed to court you if not a nice dinner?”
“That is not what this is,” she said through clenched teeth. “This is you telling me about a task you need me to do.”
“Oh, right.” Paedyn took a sip of wine. “Before Zaviana departed, she urged me to send a party to search the island for wyvern scales. Apparently, all we have are a bunch of red dragon scales, which enables people with a gift for magic to use fire. However, with how many different colors of wyverns there are on this island, the theory that there may be many other colors of scales scattered across the island somewhere is probable … and desired. How can we fight an army of fire dragons with nothing but fire?”
“So, you want me to search the island for wyvern scales?” she asked.
“Yes. I want you to put together a small search party of whoever you deem worthy. Pack a few weapons for safety, and take provisions and several packs in case you’re lucky enough to find a mine of scales.”
Lilianya bit her lip.
“Does this sound like something you’d like to head up?”
Lilianya grinned. “I would love to.”
“These scales are very important. If we can find enough of them, and if we have enough scale-talented people, whatever that means, this could really help turn the tide of the war.”
“When do I leave?” she asked.
Paedyn shook his index finger at her. “After dinner. I still have some courting to do.”
She rolled her eyes as she took a sip of wine.
15
Zaviana recovered from her shock. The wound on her cheek stopped bleeding, and she began to go through their packs. Devarius and Derkas knelt off to the side digging holes with scraps of the fallen warriors’ armor. One at a time, they buried the dead. They needed them to remain missing. Hopefully, they’d be able to get in and out of the city quickly, but they needed to cover all their bases.
Once the hole was large enough, Derkas and Devarius dragged the next body into the hole. It was the woman. Devarius frowned at her.
“I wish we hadn’t had to kill them,” Devarius whispered.
“It was them or us.” Derkas shrugged.
Devarius frowned. “It shouldn’t have to be that way.”
“Look, Devarius, you’re a goody-two-shoes, I get that, but you can’t save everyone. What were we supposed to do? Capture them and tie them up? That would never work.”
Devarius tilted his head. “Are you sure it wouldn’t have? We have a dragon and a wyvern who could watch them.”
Derkas shook his head. “Even if we could have, we’d have had to learn about them first. We can’t turn an ambush into a capture.”
“If we had the dragons …”
“Where were they anyway?” Derkas asked.
“Sleeping. Apparently they were still too tired to stay with us.”
Devarius didn’t want to tell Derkas the full truth. Ayla was still too tired to be useful. He was afraid if she’d tried to help, she would have been injured. Chalce, however, had been asleep.
Derkas rolled his eyes. “Figures.”
They finished burying the dead then went to sit by Zaviana. She tossed Devarius a set of gray robes.
“What are these?” Devarius asked.
“Slave robes,” she said.
Devarius growled. His face twisted up with disgust as he looked at them. It was demeaning to wear such attire.
She held up a set for herself.
“And what does Derkas get to wear?” Devarius asked.
Derkas sat across from them next to a set of plate mail armor with golden shoulders.
“I don’t like this,” Devarius muttered.
“Then let’s be fast about it.”
“So, what exactly is the plan?” Devarius asked.
“We’ll need to sneak into the city. There is a dragon nursery on the other side. It’s also where most of the dragonriders train. In a cave, by the nursery, is a pillar with the dragon stone. It is guarded by two dragonriders.”
Devarius raised an eyebrow. “Why is it by the nursery? I figured something as important as the dragon stone would be in the emperor’s personal study.”
“When a new egg hatches, they take it to the dragon stone. I believe they take the eggs there as well.”
“Why?” Devarius asked.
“I don’t believe the dragon stone actually has power itself. It steals the power from dragons. Then whoever touches it gets a bit of that power inside of them.”
“That’s awful,” Devarius said.
“I don’t know all the specifics, but that’s how I believe it works. No one is allowed to touch the dragon stone. All that everyone is told is that taking new hatchlings and eggs to the dragon stone enables the empire to control the dragons.”
“But you can use magic after touching it?” Devarius asked.
Zaviana nodded.
“So, all we have to do is sneak through the capital of Dragonia unnoticed, past a nursery where there are probably hundreds of baby dragons, as well as a dragon training field with most likely hundreds of dragonriders training, to find the cave where this dragon stone is hidden, blocked by guards—dragonriders no less—steal the stone, travel back through the nursery, training field, and capital, back into this forest, find our dragon and wyvern, and fly away before we’re all noticed?”
Zaviana gulped before nodding.
Devarius scratched his eyebrow. “It’s too bad Paedyn isn’t here. He’d love this plan.”
“Zaviana,” Derkas whispered. “This sounds like suicide.”
“I agree,” Devarius said.
“Come on.” She smiled. “Have a little faith.”
“We need to be able to notify Chalce and Ayla somehow when we get back into the forest,” Derkas said.
Devarius tilted his head. “We can just let them know when we’re on our way.”
Derkas raised his eyebrows. “How?”
“Can you not talk to your dragon?” Devarius asked.
Derkas sh
ook his head. “I think she understands me, but no—she cannot talk.”
“I can speak to Ayla in my head and she hears me. And the distance seems to be several miles.”
“That’s incredible,” Derkas said. “And she speaks back?”
Devarius nodded. “Yes … in my head. I wonder why your dragon can’t. I wonder if that is another difference between dragons and wyverns.”
Zaviana bit her lip. “Or, I wonder ...” She paused, grabbing her earlobe. “I wonder if it’s because of the dragon stone.”
“What do you mean?” Devarius asked.
“Well, usually the hatchlings are brought to the dragon stone to ‘control’ them, but apparently no dragons have been hatching except for red dragons. I’ve heard rumors that some eggs were brought to the dragon stones. I wonder if that’s the blues, greens, and other colors. And if their egg touched the dragon stone, if that took away their ability for communication.”
Devarius scratched his chin. “Interesting … So, if we get the dragon stone back, we may be able to give Chalce her ability to communicate back?”
Derkas turned to look at his dragon. He reached his hand to stroke her neck.
“Ayla,” Devarius said. “Can you talk to Chalce?”
The wyvern looked from Devarius to Chalce. She paused for several moments before turning back to face Devarius.
I can speak to her, and she understands, but no, she cannot talk.
Devarius frowned.
“What is it?” Derkas asked.
“She says she can communicate with her, and she seems to understand, but she cannot talk back.”
“But she can communicate with Chalce. So she can let her know when we’re on our way back?” Zaviana asked.
Ayla nodded.
“It’s better than nothing,” Zaviana said.
16
Dragonia- Dragonia Empire series Box Set Page 43